06/11/2025 -
The BAM file is the complete sequence alignment generated by your Big Y test — it contains the raw reads of your Y chromosome. This file is required by third-party services such as YFull for advanced analysis, tree placement and deeper haplogroup discovery. In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through how to request your BAM file on FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA), generate the download link, and upload it to YFull.
What You Need Before You Start
An FTDNA account with a completed Big Y or Big Y-700 test
A valid email address linked to your kit (you’ll receive the BAM link there)
(Optional) A YFull account ready to receive your BAM upload
Step 1 — Sign In to FamilyTreeDNA
Go to https://www.familytreedna.com/sign-in and log in using the same email you used whe...
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29/10/2025 -
Across the world, a few human traits tell a remarkable story of how genes, culture, and environment have co-evolved. Two of the clearest examples are lactase persistence (the ability to digest milk sugar as adults) and light skin pigmentation. Both reflect strong natural selection linked to diet and sunlight exposure — and both trace their spread through ancient human migrations.
The Lactose Story: How Milk Changed Human Evolution
For most mammals, the gene controlling the digestion of milk sugar (lactose) switches off after weaning. Yet in some human populations, that gene stayed active — a mutation near LCT/MCM6 allows adults to keep producing lactase, the enzyme that breaks down milk sugar. This trait, called lactase persistence (LP), became highly advantageous where...
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26/10/2025 -
Among the forests and rivers of the central Volga-Kama region of Russia lives a small but remarkable population — the Udmurts. With only around 500,000 people today, they speak a Finno-Ugric language related to Hungarian and Finnish, yet their genetic and physical traits tell a much more complex story.
A Genetic Puzzle Between Europe and Siberia
Modern genetic data show that Udmurts are a blend of Eastern European and Siberian ancestries.
Using G25 coordinates, they plot between Northern Europeans and Volga-Ural populations, suggesting ancient contact zones between Indo-European and Uralic speakers.
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Udmurt,0.107841,-0.020702,0.079718,0.066315,-0.03057,0.008875,0.008617,0.010716,-0.011055,-0.035615,0.021186,-0.005995,0.015072,-0.03088,-0.010391,-0.005453,-0.00...
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21/10/2025 -
Language and genes often tell different stories. Archaeogenetics shows that while migrations shape populations, cultural and political shifts can transform language far beyond their genetic footprint. From Gaul to the British Isles, from the Urals to North Africa, history offers many examples where tongues moved faster than chromosomes.
1. France – Latin Speech, Celtic Genes
After the Roman conquest, Gaul adopted Latin, which evolved into French and other Romance languages. Yet genome-wide studies reveal deep continuity between Iron Age Gauls and modern French. In the Fisher et al., 2022 study (Cell Reports), the PCA shows Iron Age and modern French individuals clustering almost identically, proving that Romanization was cultural, not genetic.
Reference: Fern...
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08/10/2025 -
Recent ancient DNA discoveries are reshaping our understanding of Roman and early medieval Britain. Far from being an isolated island after the fall of Rome, Britain was home to people of remarkably diverse origins. New genomic analyses of burials from Kent and Dorset reveal that individuals of African ancestry lived and integrated within Anglo-Saxon communities more than 1,300 years ago.
1) EAS003 – A Young Man from Kent with African Roots
The genome England_Saxon_oAfrica:EAS003.SG comes from a young man buried in Kent in the early 7th century CE. His DNA, studied in the 2024 paper
“West African ancestry in seventh-century England”, revealed a striking mixture: roughly half of his ancestry was West African, the rest Northern European.
Isotopic analysis show...
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